Bowser wrote:Kovalchuk isn't a good wing option for Crosby. Pens need to find strong wingers who can battle in the corners, skate, responsible defensively, and fire a good one-timer. You know someone like Marian Hossa (you may have heard of him... oh well).

pens#1 wrote:what is the over/under on how many pages this thread will go to?

8.5

over.

I'll take the over and 5 bucks on Racchi's Rug to still be longer.

As far as Kovachoo and the theorized trade....I like it. I've accepted that Staal will more than likely be traded to get value in return before he receives a huge RFA offer. So a 1st rounder, Staal, and a prospect/warm body? Definitely not Letang or any of our other offensive d-men. For one, the Pens are depleted on the blue line and for two they cannot trade players that are going to fill the void down the road when Gonchar retires/gets moved/goes down hill.

The only piece of thsi puzzle that I dislike is only having Kovachoo for 2 years. That would not be worth it whatsoever. The whole point of this trade would be to have that elite player under contract for 4 or 5 years, at least.

Assuming the Pens would acquire Ilya, I would rather see him with Malkin. While he would tear it up just as much with Crosby, I think Sid has the ability to bring more out of average players.

SolidSnake wrote:It's just funny cause some want Gaborik and others says he's too injury prone. Now Kovalchuk gets brought up and some are still finding things to complain about that. Well who's left out there? To keep on bringing up Hossa is ridiculous he's gone never to return and not only that I think some are over estimating what he brought to this team.

number #1 picks are great but this team is built to win now - who knows if BOTH Sid and Malkin will be here in 6 years, if the Pens had 10 years to just sit back and wait i would say no way but that isnt how the NHL runs these days. I personally dont hope we sit around and wait for Staal to mature - especially considering he could get a crazy offer sheet and then we either match or get picks that wont help us now either, just imagine if he gets a 5+mill offer sheet

pens#1 wrote:the funny thing is RS is probably thinking those idiots want to trade away a youngster with upside

See: Esposito, A.

Esposito's stock was/has been dropping fast. I'm not sure how much of an upside he really had. He'll play in the NHL, but I don't think he's going to make a big impact. I could be eating a fat dish of crow in 3 years though.

I said a few weeks back when everyone was talking about Gaborik that a trade for Kovalchuk made more sense.

If anyone is saying Kovalchuk isn't the type of player Crosby needs, you're mistaken. I've watched a lot of Kovalchuk. I think he would be a much better fit for Crosby than Hossa was. Hossa is a great forechecker and backchecker that can make plays with the puck. The MAJOR difference between Hossa and Kovalchuk is that Kovalchuk is a finisher, think goal first sniper and Hossa isn't.

There was a game that Atlanta played last week (can't remember who) but Kovalchuk looked defeated like there's nothing else he can do in Atlanta. It's a team that needs to rebuild and he's never complained about getting out of there. That said, he's a $6.4 million cap hit and is signed through next year. He would probably love playing here. If we're going to make a deal for him, it should be something like:

StaalSydor1st or 2nd round pick

for

Kovalchuk

I can't see the Pens involving Letang in the deal. Atlanta really doesn't have anyone else on their roster that makes sense for us (unless you take on Kozlov but he's 36 - but can still play). Bringing Army back doesn't do anything but clutter up the 3rd/4th line players we already have.

pens#1 wrote:number #1 picks are great but this team is built to win now - who knows if BOTH Sid and Malkin will be here in 6 years, if the Pens had 10 years to just sit back and wait i would say no way but that isnt how the NHL runs these days. I personally dont hope we sit around and wait for Staal to mature - especially considering he could get a crazy offer sheet and then we either match or get picks that wont help us now either, just imagine if he gets a 5+mill offer sheet

This team is built to win now and in the future. If Crosby and Malkin are not here in 6 years, it will mean one of two things: They do not want to be here whatsoever, which from what we've seen, is not the case. Or it will mean that the Penguins Management utterly failed.

I think they'll be here in 6 years. I don't think a first round pick is untouchable, but they aren't something you want to be tossing out every year to win now. Because toss a few first rounders out there, and you'll find yourself accepting first rounders and dishing off a Crosby/Malkin to rebuild.